Emil Løvlien (22 September 1899 – 4 June 1973) was a Norwegian forest worker, trade unionist and politician from Løten. He represented the Labour Party until the split in 1923, and the Communist Party thereafter. He was the chairman of the Communist Party from 1946 to 1965, and served three terms in the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

Pre-war life and career

Emil Løvlien was born in Løiten as the son of smallholder Herman Løvlien (1858–1941) and his wife Oline (1857–1932).. Retrieved on 28 December 2008. He was the younger brother of

Ole H. Løvlien Ole H. Løvlien (5 July 1897 – 20 August 1970) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Hedmark during the term 1958–1961. In total he met during 6 days of par ...

. Emil Løvlien attended secondary modern school from 1913, but left in 1914 to become a forest worker. In 1918 Løvlien joined the local branch of the trade union,

Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers The Norwegian Union of Forestry and Land Workers ( no, Norsk Skog- og Landarbeiderforbund, NSLF) was a trade union in Norway, organized under the national Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. It was founded in 1927 after the Julussa Conflict, ...

. He also became involved in politics, and was selected as a member of the board of the local chapter of the Labour Party. In 1922 Løvlien was selected to the national board of the Union of Forestry and Land Workers. He was elected to serve in Løten municipal council, but left the board of the Labour Party chapter, only to return in 1923 as a board member of the local Communist Party chapter. The Communist Party had split from the Labour Party in 1923, due to the latter's unwillingness to accept the

Twenty-one Conditions The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, refer to the conditions, most of which were suggested by Vladimir Lenin, to the adhesion of the socialist parties to the Third International (Comintern ...

, leading to exclusion from the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

. The next year, in 1924, Løvlien left the national board of the Union of Forestry and Land Workers, but began a two-year stint as board member of the Communist Party in Hedmark. Løvlien stood for parliamentary election in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, but unsuccessfully. In 1931, he was again elected to the municipal council. He was re-elected in 1934, and in the same year he became the party secretary of the Communist Party nationwide. Due to this position, he was also a member of the party's central committee, and served as a member of the board of the party newspaper '' Arbeideren'' from 1934. From 1936 he was also a member of the party politburo. He left all positions in 1940, the year that Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany, and the Communist Party declared illegal.

Post-war career

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, at the first elections after the liberation of Norway from

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, Løvlien was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark. He was a member of the Standing Committee of Finance and Customs and the Election Committee, served as Vice President of the Odelsting and as a representative to the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

. He also took over as party chairman of the Communist Party, in 1946. Løvlien was not re-elected to Parliament in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, but returned in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

to serve two more terms. During both these terms he continued as a member of the Standing Committee of Finance and Customs and the Election Committee. He stood for re-election in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, but lost out to

Karen Grønn-Hagen Karen Grønn-Hagen (27 November 1903 – 19 December 1982) was a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. She was born in Tynset. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark in 1961. From August to September 1963 she served ...

of the Centre Party. The margin was extremely small by Norwegian standards; only 16 votes. As such Løvlien was the last member of parliament to be elected from the Communist Party ticket (

Reidar T. Larsen Reidar Thoralf Larsen (8 October 1923 – 16 February 2012) was a Norwegian politician. He was chairman of the Communist Party of Norway from 1965 to 1975, when he resigned from his position, left the party and joined the Socialist Left Party ( ...

was elected in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, but as a part of the

Socialist Electoral League The Socialist Left Party of Norway ( no, Sosialistisk Venstreparti or SV) was founded in 1975. Its history shows a long-term rise in political influence, resulting in part from its emergence from older left-wing parties, especially the Socialist ...

). Løvlien stepped down as chairman of the Communist Party in 1965. He continued as a member of Løten municipal council until his death. His brother Ole Løvlien became mayor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovlien, Emil 1899 births 1973 deaths People from Løten Members of the Storting Labour Party (Norway) politicians Communist Party of Norway politicians Hedmark politicians Norwegian trade unionists 20th-century Norwegian politicians International Lenin School alumni